An employee is said to have diverted a total of almost 570,000 euros from a self-help association for eight years. She was sentenced to four years in prison by the Graz Criminal Court on Wednesday for serious commercial fraud. Since the defense appealed, the judgment is not final.
The defendant had worked for the association for many years. Therefore, she also had access to business accounts and was authorized to sign. Since 2010, she is said to have put several thousand euros in her own pocket every month to improve her own financial situation. An incorrectly calculated house construction is said to have caused the woman to divert the money.
She is said to have succeeded in doing this with different means: On the one hand, she had her salary paid out twice and regularly withdrew money, but then booked less and less.
Cashier discovered fraud
This was not noticed for years, until a new treasurer took over the control tasks in the association, which, among other things, works for people with disabilities. When he confronted her, the woman immediately admitted to having taken money. He then evaluated how much money was missing. He even took a week off for it. The result was almost 570,000 euros, which the club was missing. “I’m so sorry,” says the accused. Everything went wrong. She took over her parents’ business and house, but everything there had to be prepared.
Damage high despite sale
When the matter blew up, she wanted to repay the loan by selling the property and make up for the damage to the Lebenshilfe, but the purchase price fell short of expectations. 530,000 euros are still open. The defender pleaded for a mild sentence, since the woman would have lost everything anyway. She protested once again that she regrets everything. “You exploited a system in which you were largely free,” the judge justified the decision of four years of unconditional imprisonment without the possibility of house arrest.
Source: Nachrichten
